Here’s a better photo to illustrate how sticky it is here.
The entire town and casino has pretty much shut down the past couple days due to the “storm” outside. What?!?? You call that a blizzard? I’m from Colorado! Yesterday, all cell phones were unable to make outbound phones calls and all the restaurants closed early. Today, the three main restaurants were closed. The only place to eat was the buffet and the pizza/pretzel/hotdog vendors. UGH…
I competed in my very first professional event ever today.
It was not a complete disaster. I lost 7-3. It was 1-1, 2-2, then 3-3. He made a nice run and then had a short rack to make it 5-3. I didn’t get out which put him on the hill and then, of course, he finally makes a ball on the hill and ran out. That was the only ball he made on the break. The other six, he just broke dry or broke and scratched. I just felt totally out of it. I for sure did not get enough practice in before my match.
I woke up super early to hit balls for two hours from 9 to 11 and bought into the tournament. It took me all week to decide whether or not I even wanted to play. I was happy about the fact that I was not nervous at all.
Unfortunately, I think I just got a kind of late start. I really could’ve beaten this guy. He played okay, but hey! He made the balls when it counted I guess.
At this point, I do not plan to buy-back into the tournament. I just wanted to play to say that I played and to see if I’m able to work and play at the same event. Clearly, I can’t.
Good for you for giving it a shot at least!
That “casino” looks like a factory. All spread out everywhere. Hope you guys make it home ok.
“I just felt totally out of it. I for sure did not get enough practice in before my match.”
Two hours of warm-up time before a match is plenty. I still think that you need to work on your mental game.
While browsing on AZB tonight, I found this article that you yourself wrote that would go a long way in helping you with your mental game:
Built-In Excuses
We’ve seen players do this. We’ve even been guilty of it ourselves. You know what I’m talking about. It’s the build-in excuse. We show up to practice, league, or a tournament and before it even begins we say, “My back hurts tonight,” or “I have a headache.” It usually starts with “I probably won’t play well tonight because…” That way, when we don’t succeed, we’ve already validated our failure.
Merriam-Webster defines “excuse” as: something offered as justification. We create excuses in an attempt to justify and defend our actions. The built-in excuse is the one that we show up with so we don’t feel so bad when we lose. It’s different from the one we make up after a loss in attempt to determine what went wrong.
Here’s a list of some built-in excuses:
* My girlfriend/boyfriend just broke up with me.
* I have to get up early in the morning.
* They’re out of my favorite beer.
* I need a new tip.
* My ankles itch from the poison ivy I stepped in.
* The music is too loud in here.
* I’m tired from a long day at work.
* I’m expecting a phone call.
* I forgot my glasses.
* I forgot my cues.
Now that we’re aware of the built-in excuse, how do we avoid it?
Most excuses are quite legitimate. If you worked a long, hard day and your back hurts, it will probably affect your performance. If you know you’re not feeling well and won’t play well, don’t sign up for the tournament if you don’t have to.
There’s no way to completely disregard the other things going on in our lives. Life is unavoidable. Playing pool is rarely at the top of the priority food chain. Therefore, excuses are a dime a dozen. The secret is to not feed them any further energy.
If you catch yourself making an excuse, do something about it. Take action. Call the person you were waiting to hear from. Borrow your teammate’s cue. Ask to play your match early so you can get out of there. Take some aspirin for your headache. Control the situation. Address the excuses before they affect your play.
Get back to basics. Replace the excuses with productive thoughts. Instead of focusing on the excuse at hand, focus on the contact point. Focus on staying down. Focus on following through all the way with your stroke. Choose a specific mechanical area to concentrate on in place of the excuse. You’ll be amazed at how quickly your brain can be distracted from the original distraction.